The Jungle Paintings

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) never visited the tropics or saw a jungle in real life, anymore than he studied the wild animals he painted in their natural habitat. Rousseau's jungle paintings were the fantasies of a city dweller, constructed from visits to the Botanical Gardens in Paris, from books and from his vivid imagination. Nevertheless they have struck a chord with succeeding generations of viewers, offering a dream of escape from banal reality to an exotic and savage realm. In this beautiful miniature gift book the jungle paintings are reproduced in all their full, jewel-like colour, along with details highlighting the intricacy of the painter's extraordinary vision, and a brief explanatory text. A perfect and affordable introduction to the unique world of Henri Rousseau.